Heartbreak Melodies
by LAchicknikki
Summary: Gabriella couldn't forget the way Troy made her feel. The way she would light up when he smiled. The way she would melt at the sound of his laugh. And the thing that made it the hardest? Troy refused to let her move on without a fight.
1. Nothing

**Title: Heartbreak Melodies**

**Summary: No matter how hard she tried to forget him, no matter the logical reasons behind her leaving, Gabriella couldn't forget the way Troy made her feel. The way she would light up when he smiled. The way she would melt at the sound of his laugh. And the thing that made it the hardest? Troy refused to let her move on without a fight.**

**Rating: T for occasional strong language.**

**Disclaimer: All ideas written below are original and are not examples of plagiarism.**

**A/N Okay, for the last month or so, I have been completely _obsessed_ with The Script's new album, Science and Faith, and there were a few songs in particular that captivated me; as the group have a talent for, not only writing a song, but writing an entire story and compressing it into only four minutes or so. So, listening to the album, got this idea for a story and decided to go with it. This will only be about three chapters long - I can almost guarantee that it will be no more than four. Each chapter (or at the very least, the first two) will be named after a song by The Script and I recommend you have the related song playing in the background to get you in the right mind frame for reading each chapter, as it will most definitely develop my idea even further and get you to connect to the fic. I will put the links for the songs in my profile, please give them a listen - and please, please, get the album - you will thank me for it!**

**Please, please, please review! I would absolutely love to know what you think!**

**The Script - Nothing**

**_They say a few drinks will help me to forget her  
_****_But after one too many I know that I'm never  
_****_Only they can see where this is gonna end  
_****_They all think I'm crazy but to me it's perfect sense_**

**_And my mates are all there trying to calm me down_**  
**_Cause I'm shouting your name all over town_**  
**_I'm swearing if I go there now_**  
**_I can change your mind turn it all around_**  
**_And I know that I'm drunk but I'll say the words_**  
**_And she'll listen this time even though they're slurred (?)_**  
**_Dial her number and confess to her_**  
**_I'm still in love but all I heard was nothing_**  
**_(Nothing, nothing …)_**

* * *

Gabriella nervously fluffed her curled hair and adjusted her dress. It was a sleek black number, hugging her body flirtasiously; it was enough to spark the imagination of those of the opposite sex, but by nobody's standards was it tasteless or slutty. It had been three months since she had been on a date. Three months since she had dressed up, and made her bright eyes smoulder for a night in male company. Her hesitant hand as she applied her lip gloss made her feel uneasy and, in the usual Gabriella-like fashion, she began to analyse her behaviour.  
Perhaps she wasn't ready to put herself back onto the market. Yes, it had been three months since she became single, but dating another person gave her previous relationship a...finality, didn't it? A finality she wasn't sure she wanted. She sighed, berating her heart for once again getting involved and confusing her. Yes, she loved Troy and yes, it hurt to be without him, but she had left for a reason and the last thing she needed was to begin rethinking her much-considered reasons when her date was expecting her in less than an hour.

Nodding firmly at her reflection, Gabriella pressed her lips tightly together, deciding that she needed a pep talk - one given by someone other than her internal voice. Crossing the living room of her small apartment, she found her mobile laying her sofa, next to her purse and door keys. Dialing a familiar number, she waited patiently for the ringing to morph into the voice of her best friend.

"Helooo," came Sharpay's enthusiastic greeting.

"Shar," Gabriella began tentatively. "Would you be annoyed if your date cancelled on you with only..." she rotated her wrist, checking the time on the small face of her silver watch. "With only like forty minutes until you were meant to meet?"

"What?" Sharpay said sharply, "Daniel cancelled? What kind of man does that? That...that jerk! You know what, you're better of without him-"

"Shar," Gabriella interjected.

"If I'm being honest, I never liked him - you c do much better," she said matter of factly

"Sharpay!" Gabriella snapped, silencing her friend's outraged rambling.

"Yes?" She replied sheepishly.

"It...isn't Daniel...It's me. I'm not sure I want to go," Gabriella winced.

"Brie," Sharpay sighed, understanding Gabriella's hesitations yet not wholly supportive of them. "It's been three months, don't you think it's time you got back out there?"

"You make it sound as though this was a casual fling Troy and I had: I spent eight years of my life with him; three months doesn't erase that time and those memories," Gabriella replied, defensively, resenting Sharpay's insinuation.

"I was there for those eight years, Gabriella, it was me who did you're make up for your first date with Troy, so do not suggest that I don't understand what the two of you meant to one another." Sharpay was usually good-humoured, but whenever her love or understanding of her family and closests friends were question, another side of her personality was revealed.

Sharpay and Gabriella had known each other from the age of five and had grown together practically as sisters. During high school the two were seen as the unlikeliest of friends - Gabriella being the girl next door, and Sharpay the dramaic, highly-strung daughter of a millionaire businessman - however their bond withstood the snide remarks of high school and their friendship only strengthened.

"Look, I know that, okay?" Gabriella conceded, knowing her comment was unfair. "I just feel As though everybody is telling me to move on and...it isn't necessarily what I always want to hear."

"Gabriella. You left Troy, you decided it was over. This wasn't just a whim, you had your reasons, so, yes, to a degree people are going to wonder why you won't move on. I don't mean to sound cruel, but, Gabriella, he didn't die, you just left him; you can't put your life on hold for him."

"But what if I made a mistake?" She whispered with regret, finally voicing her deepest fear. She inhaled deeply, fighting the resurfacing image of Troy's pleading eyes as she closed the door of their apartment behind her for the last time.

"This is why you need to start dating again. If you keep putting it off, you'll sit around, going crazy wondering if your decision was wrong. Go out, and have some fun. Nobody's saying you should marry the guy,right? It's just drinks. And who better to start with than Daniel? He seems like a nice guy."

"You were telling me like 5 minutes ago that he was a good-for-nothing scumbag who didn't deserve my time," Gabriella chuckled, half-heartedly.

"Pshh," Sharpay waved her hand dismissively on the other end of the line. "I was just being a good friend. Seriously, I think you should give him a chance."

Gabriella sighed once more, twirling her hair between her nimble fingers in contemplation. She supposed she could do worse with her Friday night than go on a date...right? Her heart wasn't in it, but somehow she was able to see Sharpay's perspective. "If it sucks and I'm having a horrible time, will you throw me an 'emergency' call?" She requested in a young voice, recalling all the times throughout high school and college she had rescued her friends from mind-numbing dates, with reasons ranging from a dead dog to a fire at their homes - she had gotten really imaginative during the last few years.

"Of course, honey. How does a break-in sound?"

"Mine or yours?"

"Mine; I'll need the comfort of my best friend."

"Nice," Gabriella giggled, feeling a little more positive.

"Well, go on, you have to meet him soon."

"Yeah."

"Brie, don't over analyse it, 'kay? Just let go.".

()()

Although Gabriella politely thanked Daniel for his compliment, she couldn't help but feel a little uneasy at the way his eyes washed over her body in approval before he swooped in and pressed his lips to her cheek.

"Uhmm...you look nice, too," she supplied lamely.

"You're just trying to flatter me," he teased, looking down at his simple dress as though it were nothing special. He wore a plain black shirt and dark jeans, his blonde hair in a simple short back and sides cut. "So, are you ready to go?" He posed, extending his bent arm for Gabriella to latch on to.

She accepted his arm gracefully, smiling. As she slipped her petite hand into the crook of his elbow, she felt his biceps through the sheathing of his shirt. It didn't feel like...no! She stopped herself again: she had to stay in the moment and not let other things - or people - invade her mind.

"There's this bar not too far from here - I thought we could go. They do really nice cocktails and...I've only been a few times but the atmosphere is really nice. I heard they have karaoke every other Saturday, as well," A laugh boomed from his chest as he smiled enthusiastically down at Gabriella who was almost a whole foot shorter than him. "Not that I expect us to get involved or anything coz that's...pretty lame, if you ask me, but it could be fun to watch."

As they strolled down the street, their bodies illuminated by the bars and clubs of California, Gabriella felt almost as though her heart was in her mouth as they took a route very familiar to her. There were only a handful of bars in that were classy but still had karaoke nights. She was lying to herself; there was only one - one she knew very well. She contemplated asking Daniel if they could go somewhere else, but then thought against it. Perhaps that wasn't the best way to start a date?

About half an hour after they had got to the bar, Gabriella began to loosen up. There was a chance, of course, that it was the glass of wine swimming through her blood stream, but she liked to believe it was her finally being able to 'let go' as Sharpay had said. She wasn't, at this stage, seeing there being a follow-up date, but at least she was somewhat relaxed.

"You know," Daniel began, "I was a little surprised when you agreed to come out with me."

Placing a single nut into her mouth, Gabriella quirked her eye brow. "You were?"

"Well I..." Daniel suddenly stopped, scanning Gabriella's face earnestly. "This could sound stalkerish," he explained but Gabriella urged him to continue. "Well, I'd seen you a few times before I actually approached you, and I kind of asked around about you. I heard that...that you didn't date."

Gabriella, despite biting her lip, couldn't resist laughing at the rumour.

"Is it not true?"

"Partly," she replied simply before taking a sip of her red wine. "I..." They had chosen to sit in the booths with the black leather seating, and beneath the dim spot lights, Gabriella could see Daniel attempting subtly - and failing - to inch closer to her without her noticing, and his body inclining towards her while his eyes watched her with an intensity that didn't sit well with her. "I've recently come out of a serious relationship, so yeah, I wasn't dating but...not in the way I'm sure some people made it sound."

Daniel's nervous chuckled and guilty blush confirmed Gabriella's suspicions. "Did you think I was some kind of Ice Maiden or something?"

"Or something."

She shrugged, "I just wasn't really ready before."

Nodding with understanding, Daniel asked, "But you are now?"

In that second, every word of her and Sharpay's conversation, every second thought and hesitation flashed through Gabriella's mind, and she sucked in a sharp breath at the pain that once again began to worm through her heart. Daniel seemed to notice, perhaps that pain also flashed through her mocha eyes, and he reached over, brushing his thumb over the back of her hand.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that. I understand your situation," he promised, his blue eyes drilling into hers. "How about we say, right now, no strings and no expectations."

His suggestion, on the surface, seemed innocent, but Gabriella was untrusting. She had enough friends - male and female - and had over-heard enough conversations at college to know that when a guy of 24 used the term 'no strings attatched and no expectations', it was really code for 'we can do it and I can hit you up ocassionally when I need to get my dick wet but don't expect an emotional attatchment.' Wanting to avoid the topic entirely, Gabriella slipped her hand fro, under his, and took a glance to her left.

She pursed her lips momentarily before saying randomly, "I really love this song."

()()

Just when Gabriella thought she could handle no more of the shallow, uninteresting small-talk, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun around as though whomever it was - even just a waitress bringing more snacks - may save her from her misery. The face she saw looming above her filled her heart with joy.

"Chad!" She sprung out of the booth, throwing her arms around her friend and attempting to engulf his broad frame into arms while squeezing tightly in praise of his timing.

"Gabs," came his boiyant reply, welcoming her embrace but eyeing her company curiously over her shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" She questioned when she finally pulled back, not being able to resist running her fingers over his chest to feel the tiny chrystals that made up the skull shape on his jet black t-shirt.

"You know, having some drinks," Chad shrugged evasively, "I looked over and I thought 'hey, I know that curly brown hair!' so I thought I'd say hi."

Gabriella had been so excited by Chad's appearance, that she only remembered that she had company when someone closeby cleared their throat. "Oh gosh, I'm so rude! Umm...Chad this is Daniel, Daniel this is Chad: we've been friends since high school," she explained of the man that was more of a brother to her.

"Nice to meet you, man," Chad said politely, all the while gripping his hand in a shake that said in no uncertain terms that he did not approve of his presence. "Uhmm...Gabs, can I speak to you for a moment," he said when he released his vice. He appreciated that her date - Darren, was it? - got the cue and excused himself to buy drinks.

"Can I get you anything," he offered, to which Chad refused. "Gabriella?"

"Uhh...Apple Martini would be great." When Daniel was beyond hearing distance, Gabriella turned back to Chad. "So, what's up?"

"You're on a date?" He said, his tone accusatory. It was understandable considering that he and Troy were best friends, and that he'd often been employed by Troy to get Gabriella to changed her mind when she left.

"Don't give me that look, I am allowed to date," Gabriella said firmly, rolling her eyes at his stance.

"I know you are, but...that guy?"

"He's not a bad guy, I mean..." Gabriella paused mid-defence and shook her head, causing her curled locks to flap wildly. "Why am I defending this to you? Listen, Troy and I aren't together anymore." As she spoke, she tried to mask the crack of emotion in her voice. "We can date other people."

"But..." Chad sighed and shook his head.

"Chad?"

"He's here, Gabs. Me, Troy and Jase decided to come out tonight and we came here."

Exactly what Gabriella had feared had confronted her and her head began to swim with the worry. "Has he seen me?"

"He's in the bathroom," Chad responded after shaking his head - and throwing a quick glance over his shoulder to check his information was still valid. "Me and Jase saw you just after he left. Jase says hi, by the way, but we thought it was best if someone stayed back and kind of distracted him if he came out."

"I knew, I knew we shouldn't have come here," Gabriella muttered into Chad's bicep, where she had buried her head. "I just wanted to drinks - non-awkward, non-complicated drinks - then he suggested we come here and I knew I was screwed, I knew it."

Chad wrapped a comforting arm around her, and Gabriella contemplated ditching Daniel while he was still at the bar, and saving herself the anguish, but just as the thought grew in appeal, she saw him approaching. Chasd felt her pull back, and immediately realised the situation.

"I can try to keep him occupied, but I can't promise anything."

"Thanks."

"An Apple Martini for you," Daniel smiled broadly as he approached, his voice - which Gabriella was finding increasingly obnoxious - cutting threw the hushed tones of Chad and Gabriella's.

Chad left when Daniel set Gabriella's Martini down, wleaving Gabriella with a reassuring whisper and Daniel with a warning not to hurt his 'sister'.

For half an hour following Chad's departure, Gabriella listened to Daniel talk about his experience in med school and his future career as a doctor. She began to wonder if something was wrong with her. Here she was with an articulate, ambitious, attractive man in front of her. She stopped reconsidering her thoughts. Sure, he was attractive according to the textbooks and society, but in actuality, she had never really liked blonde guys - at least not in that way. And, sure, his eyes were blue, but his had the effect of making him seem cold an unfeeling. They weren't like Troy's; Troy's were deep, everlasting pools of blue that conveyed his every thought and emotion. She loved Troy's eyes. She loved their warmth, and she loved the way they seemed to gaze directly into her soul. She could happily spend eternity gazing into Troy's eyes.

Just as the thought popped into her mind, she made the mistake of flickering hey eyes to her left - those eyes meeting hers. Those eyes showing his heart breaking all over again.

"Gabriella. Gabriella?" Gabriella tensed. The voice that called her name seemed harsh and raw in comparison to Troy's tender gaze, but she knew she had to tear her eyes from his, and refocus her attention.

"Umm..." she cleared her throat, hoping to dislodge the lump that waas forming there. "Yeah?"

"I was saying that umm...medicine turns a lot of people off when they think of the blood and the deaths."

"I suppose so," she said absentmindedly, looking at him but not really seeing.

Her flirting function had been disabled, she concluded. When she had first met Troy, she was seventeen and was without any experience regarding those of the opposite sex. Yet, as shy, retiring and bookish as she was, that basketball boy had managed to draw out that person within - so deep within, even Gabriella had not known she had existed - who was willing to accept her burgeoning womanhood and flirt with sexually. But with Daniel, she seemed completely inept. At twenty four she was once again unable to flirst, each of her attempts being forced and cringe-worthy.

"Is there something really fascinating going on at the bar that I can't see, because I've spent the last half hour speaking to your cheek," Daniel said tersely. He followed her eyeline and found himself staring directly at Troy who was snarling in his direction, a shot glass pressed to his lips. Sensing that he was more than your average admirerer Daniel glanced back at his date and narrowed his eyes.

"Remember I said I was in a serious relationship?" Gabriella asked meekly, rimming her cocktail glass in her anxiety.

In disbelief at the apparent awkwardness, Daniel muttered "No freakin way. And by the way he's giving me daggers I assume it wasn't his choice to end it?"

"Umm..." Gabriella winced and cast her eyes down at the table, running her fingers over the object as though she were examining ancient inscriptions. "We don't know each other that well so I'd rather not discuss my previous relationship."

"Oh, sure, I apologize of that seemed in anyway intrusive." There is was again: those impecable manners that Gabriella could not be enticed by.

()()

Just when Gabriella was certain her night couldn't possibly go further down the toilet, she heard Troy's slurred voice, demanding the young woman behind the bar bring him another shot. When he grew even more persistent and irate at her refusal, the intimidation felt by the petite bar maid was palpable as her face contorted and she called another member of staff to deal with the inebriated Troy.

The barman she called was much larger than Troy in height and width, but Troy being decidedly intoxicated - having opted to drown his sorrows and muffle the pained voices in his head with copios shots of tequila and glasses of brandy - didn't acknowledge the pysical differences and was not at all intimidated by his menacing stance.

"Listen buddy," he snarled, leaning over the bar with his eyes drilling into Troy's. "This is a nice place and we don't like our place associated with drunken rif-raf. I think it's time you settle your bill and leave."

"Like hell I will," Troy shouted back, outraged that he had been a customer of this bar since it had first opened, and yet he was having a guy in a too-tight black shirt who had only been working there a week, what was expected from their clientle - screw him. "This is fucking shitty customer service!" He bellowed, spinning in his stool to look at the crowd in the bar - a mixture of people who were pretending not to hear the dispute, people who tried not to stare but felt compelled to spare odd glances in his direction and finally, people who thrived on the drama and didn't dare tear there eyes away, for fear they would miss something exciting. "Shitty customer service!" He repeated to his audience.

At that moment, he felt the sensation of someone gripping his arm. When he turned to face the owner of the hand, his vision was blurred but he just about managed to recognise Jason's face.

"Dude, I think it's time we go. You're making a scene, dude, it's not cool," Jason advised, discretely, speaking in a hushed voice. Chad was behind him, nodding in agreement to his words and already getting his wallet out to settle the bill for the drinks they had ordered.

"I want my fucking drink! I don't care that I'm making a scene, Jason!" The exertion of yelling had caused the blood to rush to his head and he stumble slightly but quickly re-established his balance by gripping on to Jason's arm. "Maybe if I make a scene I can forget that the love of my fucking life is sitting over there with another fucking man!" The candour of his slurred, heart broken words elicited a sharp intake of breaths from those surrounding him and everybody - the ones who had been listening and the ones who hadn't - followed his eyeline directly to Gabriella.

()

While Troy had been making an ass of himself, Gabriella gritted her teeth, feeling the embarrassment he would have felt for himself had he been fully present.

"What a douche bag," Daniel snorted when Troy stumbled about after tearing down their customer service. "What kind of man can't handle his drink?"

"You don't know Troy," Gabriella said simply, biting her tongue.

"And I'm glad that's the case."

"You don't know him, so don't talk about him like you do," she snapped with a sharp tongue, restraining herself from saying more. "I've known Troy since I was seventeen and I've seen him drunk only three times, so don't you look at him and this that he's some waste of space loser because you have no idea how much of a man he is."

Daniel was just about to retalliate, questioning why, if he was so much of a man, she was sitting here on a date with him and not loved up with the drunk dude across the bar. But just as his lips parted, those pained words shot from Troy's mouth and silence fell. Gabriella weighed up her decisions: she could remain still and have pairs of strangers' eyes bore into her or she could have them bore into her - as she rose and slipped away. She chose the latter.

As though noone was watching, she slid from the booth, picked up her bag and walked to the bathroom casually - all the while with flaming cheeks. The second she got to the bathroom and did a quick scan to ensure it was empty, she let her head fall limp against the bathroom door and released a her phone from her bag, she immediately dialled Sharpay's number.

"This is a disaster," she said the very second the ringing ceased.

"You need a lifeline?"

"Not that kind of dreadful, Sharpay," she whined. Had it not been for the fact she refused to cry in a public decorum, she would have bursted into tears and let the anguish rush from her body. "Troy's here and I'm on date."

"Has he seen you?" Sharpay gasped.

"Would I be freaking out had he not seen me?" Gabriella snapped with a touch of nueroticism. "This is just...fucked."

"Listen, calm down. It's just a date."

"I know. And we did agree to date other people -"

Sharpay snorted: "To be fair you didn't really give Troy a choice," she muttered. Silence was on the other end of the line and she immediately regretted her words. "I may have had a few rum cocktails - don't blame me?"

"It's not about me being on a date it's just. Troy's here and he's like...smashed and I know it's my fault and then Daniel's telling me he's a douche for not being able to hold his drink and then...then every time I looked over Troy was giving me those eyes, those stupid eyes that make me melt and want to just have him hold me and...this is all so fucked up." Despite the resolve she had made, she felt a lone tear trickle down her cheek."

"Shar, I just...I'm gonna go," she sighed.

"Do you want me to come get you?" Sharpay offered, trying her best to rectify Gabriella's issues. "We can stuff our faces with ice-cream?" She implored.

"No, no thanks. I'm just going to go home."

There conversation ended a few moments later, with Gabriella promising to call Sharpay if she wanted company, even if it was three in the morning when the need presented itself. Gabriella retouched her lip gloss and gathered herself before exiting her confines.

Some eyes still found her when she reappeared but the majority had begun to entertain themselves. She heard the beginning of a meldoy that, months before, would have made her heart glow with the tenderness of its lyrics, but tonight it struck fear into her.

"Oh, gosh no," she mumbled repeatedly, as she rushed through the small crowd that had gathered by the mini stage. "Please, God, don't do this to me."

But Gabriella's prayers were unanswered as, before her, stood Troy, microphone in hand, swaying to the tune.

"Gabi!" He blurted out, the loud volume of his voice indicating he had loss the perspective of distance in his drunken state, not realising, being so close, Gabriella could have heard him whisper. "You 'member this? This your faverut sung." His tongue sounded heavy, his words not fully formed. "You sing it all time."

"Chad, Jason do something!" Gabriella hissed imploringly with wide-eyed horror.

"You don't think we've tried?" Chad posed incredulously. "He didn't just get this drunk - we've been trying to stop him for ages."

And then he began to sing, and even completely smashed their was a beauty in the vulnerabilty of his tone that warmed Gabriella inside. _"If you're standing with your suitcase, but you can't get on the train - everything's the way that you left it, I still havent slept yet..."_

"Troy, please, get down, you're not thinking straight."

"S'I am," he protested while the music continued to swirt around him. "_If the truth is your a liar,"_ he continued, _"when you say that you're okay - still sleeping on your side of the bed going out of my head, now."_

There was a vicious battle being fought between Gabriella's head and heart. The former remiding her of the reasons she had left, while the latter threatened to succumb to his heart-felt words, the women surrounding Gabriella in the bar whisering about how cute his pleading behaviour was.

"I can't do this," Gabriella whispered to herself, feeling the tears tingle in her eyes and fighting the looming combustion. She began to once again worm through the crowd towards the exit and Troy, spotting her attempt to depart only raised his voice and skipped to the chorus:

_"...But even if wishing is a waste of time...even if I never crossed your mind: I'll leave the door on the latch if you ever come back, if you ever come back. There'll be a light on in the hall and a key under the mat if you ever come back, if you ever come back, there'll be a smile on my face and the kettle on and it'll be just like you were never gone._" And he got louder still: _"And they same I'm watsing my time._ Gabi! They say you're never coming home," he rushed the words out, altering them slightly. _"But they used to say the world was and how wrong was that, now?"_ Then he gave up completely and dove of the stage, fighting through his audience.

"Don't walk away from this, Gabi, please!" He begged shamelessly.

Gabriella was right by the door when she felt someone grip her arm. She knew from experience that it wasn't troy and saw Daniel peering down at her. "So, what you're just leaving. You were just going to walk out like that?"

"Hey, get your fucking hand off her!" Troy demanded, having closed in on them. "Who the fuck do you think you are holding her like that?"

"I'm not some fucking drunk loser that's who the fuck I am!"

Gabriella yanked her arm free, outraged at his attitude and stepped through the door, welcoming the fresh air on her skin. To her dismay, both men came after her, the disputer spilling onto the side street wherethe bar was located.

"Gabriella, listen, are you honestly telling me that this is the guy who you're leaving me for? This...this twat?"

Gabriella, who had previously been facing in the opposite direction, whipper her head around, her hair slapping against her face with the force of the action. "How dare you?" Gabriella demanded, a face like thunder as she pointed her slender finger at Daniel. "You think because you happen to sober today and because your in med school, you have the right to judge Troy!" Something had been activated within Gabriella that she couldn't repress and she continued. "You have no idea how big his heart is, how intelligent and responsible he is. You don't know a damn thing about him, and you know what?" By this stage, Gabriella didn't care that several pairs of eyes were trained on them inquisitively as people walked passed. "You don't know a damn thing about me."

Before the blonde's brain engaged enough to part his lips and dispute her statement, Troy had seen a chance and lept athis opportunity; exclaiming like an exciteable five year old:

"I know you, Gabi, I know you!" He took her hands gently in his own and shok his hands, gazing imploring while he continued. "I know you better than I know myself, Gabi, you know that!"

"Dude, you're embarrassing yourself," Daniel snarled, but Troy ignored him."

"I know how you like to drop rose oil in your bath because it reminds you of gardening with your dad. I know how, you still cry everytime you watch My Girl, and I know why you still cry. I know how you're afraid of cats and how -"

"Stop!" Gabriella pulled her hands free of his grasp, facing her palm outwards as though pushing Troy away but not actually touching him. When she shook her head, her curls bounced. "Both of you just stop it! You'reboth just talking at me and getting in my fucking head and..." Gabriella couldn't take any more; herchin began to tremble and she sighedin defeat when she felt tears, resulting from her over-worked brain, silently stream down her cheeks. She didn't care that her make-up was most likely smudge, or that she looked like a basket-case, standing in the street, dressed in her pretty dress with perfect curls, crying and she didn't care that people were staring. She just wanted the voices to stop.

"Don't cry, Gabi," Troy attempted, reaching out and grazing his fingers along her arm.

"Don't," she said, a pleading whisper couple with a vulnerable head shake.

She turned her back on both of them, wiping the palm of her left hand over her face in one rough swipe. Snivelling, she hailed a taxi and while she waited for it to pull into the curb, she licked her lips repeatedly in a hope to stop the tears that continued to burgeon. She knew both men when still watching her; she was used to sensing Troy's lazering eyes burn into her, and Daniel, she assumed he was still watching just through the bewilderment felt at being shot down.

She pulled open the car door and as she placed her left foot into the vehicle, Troy softly said her name and something about it, the way his voice seemed to travel directly to her heart, made her slowly swivel her head around to meet his eyes, turned almost navy blue with intesity of his stare.

"Let me get your taxi?"

Gabriella chuckled in an almost bitter 'it figures' kind of way and tipped her head. " Good night, Troy." With that, she climbed into the car and the door thudded softly behind her.

And that final exchange played in her head over and over during the journey home. That had been the essence of Troy, those five words embodying the reason for her love for him: even when, to be blunt, he was completely and utterly smashed, he still didn't want her to pay...

* * *

**Nothing & If You Ever Come Back, courtesy of The Script**

**Hope you enjoyed! Please review! xoxo**


	2. If You Ever Come Back  Last Kiss

**Title: Heartbreak Melodies**

**Summary: No matter how hard she tried to forget him, no matter the logical reasons behind her leaving, Gabriella couldn't forget the way Troy made her feel. The way she would light up when he smiled. The way she would melt at the sound of his laugh. And the thing that made it the hardest? Troy refused to let her move on without a fight.**

**Rating: T for occasional strong language.**

**Disclaimer: All ideas written below are original and are not examples of plagiarism.**

**A/N First off, thank you to all of those who responded to my fic and gave their opinions on what I had written. I really appreciate it. To those who only favourited it, I also appreciate that, but if you could also just leave a quick review, that'd be great ;)  
**

**Now...today's been a strange day: I woke up to my mum telling me that Zac and Vanessa had split, and although - if I'm being 1000% honest, I wasn't completely surprised - it's still strange. I don't know...they represented, for me, the idea of a true romance, but also, a huge part of my childhood. It's...the end of an era, isn't it? In my opinion, they will get back together, but it's just...surreal. **

**Fairytales don't end, do they? **

**I had planned on updating this even before I heard the news, but now it seems even more appropriate, so I've gone out of my way to make sure this got up today. I hope you all enjoy...and appreciate. xoxo**

**P.S. Their are several songs, not only by The Script, that fit perfectly with this chapter, and also with the current situation, hence the split title. I will also add a few more to my profile, hopefully tonight, but definitely by tomorrow ;)**

**_And now I'll go sit on the floor_  
_Wearing your clothes_  
_All that I know is _  
_I don't know how to be something you miss_**

**_Never thought we'd have a last kiss_  
_Never imagined we'd end like this_  
_Your name, forever the name on my lips  
_  
Last Kiss - Taylor Swift**

* * *

It was 1pm when Gabriella finally heaved out of her bed, trudged out of her bedroom and slumped into a hot bath. She had barely slept since she had returned home shortly before ten the previous night; with her head spinning as though it were on the brink of exploding. She wanted had to be strong and forget that look of Troy's and that voice of Troy's, but each time she attempted to close her eyes and drift off, the memories would violate her mind; usually summoning a slight tear of frustrated groan to accompany it.

_But there were reasons,_ the logical part of her kept chanting._ Reasons you left._

_xxx _

_"We've been over this, Gabriella," Troy huffed in deep frustration with a raised voice,tipping his head back and grasping at his chestnut brown hair with his long fingers._

_"We've been over this, yet you still don't seem to be listening to me!" Gabriella could feel her chest heaving as her frustration and anger escalated. What had begun as a normal conversation, had several times before, had spiralled into a passionate argument and Gabriella, in the pit of her stomach, had a sick feeling that it wouldn't end well._

_They had begun seated on their brown sofa, but were now standing, lifted by disagreement, with their bodies inclined towards one another, eyes expanded and hands gesticulating wildly._

_"What have I not listened to, Gabriella! Please, tell me! I've heard every word, I can assure you!"_

_"There! You just said it! You've 'heard' every word," when she said the word 'heard' she emphasized them with deliberate air quotations and a resenting tone. "But has anything really gotten through to you? Really, has it?" Here, she quirked her eyebrow, clearly having made her own conclusion without Troy's answer._

_Behind her, perched on the coffee table in front of the sofa, was a picture of the couple taken four years previously. They were on holiday in Mexico celebrating Gabriella's twenty-first birthday, a gift from Troy that had taken him a whole year to save for. They appeared, then, not to have a care in the world; to be consumed only in one another's presence, unaware of anything or anybody else._

_But a lot of time had passed since then. Sometimes they felt they were no longer those people._

_"Don't be so fucking patronizing, Gabriella," Troy spat. "It's gone through and processed just fine, thank you very much."_

_"Then what's your problem!"_

_"My problem, which I have stated a million times, already, is that I don't want what you want. Not right now!" He shook his head._

_"Then when, Troy?" The anger had dissapated for Gabriella now, and as she spoke her eyes were glossed with a lining of tears. She bit her lips and sniffed, shaking her head to convey her vulnerability. "When?" She whispered again, her voice coarse with the threatening tears._

_Troy's voice reduced, too, and he shrugged apologetically. "I can't give you a date, Gabi," he said tenderly, returning to the nickname he had coined for her. "Why can't you let this go? I can't give you what you want, right now. Just give it time...please it go." He approached her, seeming almost to float towards her as his cotton socks were silent against the wood. He took her hands into his, stroking his thumbs over her soft skin and then he kissed her forehead before pulling back and gazing intently into her eyes._

_Her sorrowful expression scared him._

_"I can't," she practically mouthed, as very little sound came out. The tears had broken through the dam, now, falling freely and she felt them coating her cheeks, before salty liquid found its way onto her lips. "I want kids, and a family of my own. Things are good financially and I don't want to wait anymore. I can't shake this feeling and part of me is wishing I could, but I can't."_

_"Why?"_

_She simply shrugged. "Because I can't just stay here with you in this place we're in of not moving forward."_

_"You don't feel we're moving forward?" He questioned, pained._

_"Sometimes? No, I don't. I want to move forward, I want to enter a new phase in this relationshop and recently, I feel like we've just started to...stagnate." she wiped at her tears. "I'm not asking for us to start trying for a baby, but I don't think it's unreasonable for me to want just that extra bit of commitment."_

_"Why?" He demanded, completely and utterly bewildered. "You don't have to question my commitment, Gabi; you know that my heart lies only with you."_

_"It's been nearly ten years! You're telling me you don't want to tell people I'm more than just your girlfriend?"_

_"For those first few years we were just kids - they don't count!" He blurted without considering the double meaning of his words. Until Gabriella withdrew, looking at him with cold eyes._

_"Well if they don't then it was all a waste of time, right? Maybe I should just walk out now," she suggested, already retreating._

_"No, no I didn't mean it like that, you know I didn't. You know what I mean," he protested, blocking her path to the door. "It's only really been this last year and a half that we've been in a position to get married. I'm not...I'm not in the place, Gabriella, that isn't what I want," he said quietly._

_"I'm not asking for much."_

_"I know it seems that way to you, but it's different for me."_

_"Why?"_

_"Because..." he sighed, shaking his head and shrugging his heavy shoulders. "On our six month anniversary, we went out to celebrate and I gave you your present, and I promised you that I would never lie to you, and that I would never go back on my word." Gabriella nodded, her tears a seemingly never ending flurry. "That's why I can't tell you that I want this. I want to tell you that so much because I know how much you want and need to hear me say that, but...I can't." With Troy having given up resisting his tears, the final two words were hoarse, when his throat finally released them._

_Silence fell. It was hard, deafening and both hearts shattered at the tragic sound._

_"Then...I think I know where we stand." Troy, shocked by the meaning of her words, was paralyzed by the pain that tore through his body when he saw Gabriella walk around him gathering her phone and bag before slipping a cardigan on and pushing her feet into her brown Uggs._

_"Gabriella," he pleading, still frozen in the same spot. "Don...don't...please don't walk away from this. I...need you. Let's talk."_

_Her hand was already on the brass door knob, pulling the apartment door open. She turned back on final time. "I've got nothing more to say."_

_As she stepped over the threshold, she saw Troy's face; his eyes were blood red with his tears, the sorrow in them suggesting that his spirit - his fight - had just been pulled out from him._

_xxx_

Even recalling that painful day made her heart wrench. Her bath helped somewhat; the rose-scented steam seeming to ease her mental tensions. When she finally climbed out of her bath after refilling the hot water three times, and soaking her stresses away for almost four hours, she felt almost unsteady on her legs as she smothered her body in Vanilla body soufflé.

She was in the process of drying her hair when the bell rang and so, she quickly set down the hair dryer, and trotted to the door, expecting to see Sharpay, who always made an appearance with 24 hours of a bad date, but instead...

"Troy," she stuttered, thrown by his appearance.

His hands were stuffed firmly into his jean pockets - a sign, Gabriella knew, of his nerves - his hair a little dishevelled, but somehow sexy and his eyes tinged with pink - a result of an incredible hang over, Gabriella assumed.

Yet he was perfect.

"I..." he cleared his throat. "I was...I mean...umm...could we...uhh...talk?" Just fucking fantastic. Here he was a was tripping over his words like a fourteen year old asking his crush out.

"Umm..." Gabriella was just as bad. She stepped to the side, opening the door further and indicating that he could enter.

"So..." Troy exhaled, his right hand coming up and squeezing the tense muscles at the back of his neck as he rocked on the outsides of his feet. "Umm...yeah...so..."

Gabriella suddenly became aware of the fact that she was only in a fluffy white towel with only a pair of panties beneath. Just before Troy once again attempted to vocalise the words in his brain, she said, "Umm...I'm just going to put some clothes on. You...you can...you know...sit down...or whatever."

It then became apparent that Troy had only noticed her state of dress when she had mentioned it, for his eyes then lingered hungrily on her towel-clad body, and in that split second before she departed, he licked his lips while replaying memories in which he was also enjoying a bath or shower with Gabriella, and then peeling her towel off once they had left the confines of the bathroom; his raging urges insatiable.

He went and sat awkwardly, just as Gabriella suggested. His nerves wouldn't settle; his legs jiggled up and down as though caffine had been injected directly into his bloodstream, while he subconsciously wrung his hands together. When Gabriella came back into the small living area, he literally jumped out of his seat on the couch - his nerves were officially shot.

They stood at opposite ends of the room; Gabriella just outside of her bedroom door and Troy frozen by the coach as he observed her, twitching nervously: it reminded him of when he picked her up for their first date when they were both seventeen.

"I always said my clothes looked better on you," he smiled.

"Oh!" Gabriella gasped, realising she had grabbed one of his shirts in her hurry. "I...I didn't...I just grabbed it..."

"Nah, it's okay," he assured, realising it had made her uncomfortable. "I missed seeing you in them," he whispered, holding her gaze.

She briefly looked down at the floor, wiggling her tiny toes. "Would you like a drink? Umm...coffee...or...or water?"

"Water. I think that'll be the only thing I drink for a while." He squinted, his head aching just at the thought of anything even mildly intoxicating.

Gabriella then went and shufled towards the kitchenette, getting a jug of water from the fridge and filling two long glasses with the cold liquid. When she bought them into the living area, and handed Troy his glass, their hands brush but just as quickly as their hands had touched, Gabriella had snatched hers back.

"It's a nice place you've got here," Troy nodded, his tongue feeling a bit looser when quenched.

"Thanks. It isn't great. It was the best I could get quickly after I..." after I left, she finished silently in her head.

Troy, again, nodded.

Simulataneously, the both sat on the small sofa and Troy's nerves returned in full-force.

"You wanted to talk?" Gabriella broached first.

"Yeah." His voice was rapsy in response and he cringed at the sound of it as he drummed his feet furociously against the wooden floor. "I...umm..." he could feel his chest racing, his hands getting clammy and his mouth getting dry. "I...fuck!" He muttered, shaking his head with shame. "I had so much planned that I wanted to say to you," he explained. "Like, I'd thought of everything and it was perfect...and now I haven't a clue where to start."

"It's only me," Gabriella said softly as she resisted her inclination to grasp his hand in a soothing gesture.

"That's why it's so important."

"Start wherever you feel is right."

Neither spoke for a few minutes; they sat, sipping their water and staring straight ahead, not risking even the slightest eye contact until Troy was ready to make a move, and undoubtley complicate everything that much further.

"I didn't wash anything after you left," he said quietly, still not looking at her. "I mean, clothes and bedding - the stuff that still had your scent on them."

Shit! Yes, she had said to start anywhere, but why did he choose _there_? A place that would immediately breakdown her barriers and get her emotional and cause her to lose all rationality.

"The stuff of mine that you used to wear, I kept wearing them everywhere, but then, with ironing and...just me wearing them...it lost the smell and...it was like, that physical reminder that I had of you was taken, too. I lost you all over again"

A hot tear dripped from Gabriella's long lashes.

Unexpextedly, he turned to her, shifting even closer and gazing at her imploringly. "I acted like a complete asshole last night and I know that, but...when I saw you with that guy," he said as his face contorted in disgust, "I felt literally sick, like my heart had been ripped out of my chest and then had lemon juice poured into the wound!"

Gabriella was now crying freely, with white streaks running down her cheeks. "I know. I know that wasn't you last night. I don't hold it against you."

When Troy extended his arm, cupped her cheek and brushed her tears away, Gabriella felt a violent shiver ripple through her body. "You know I don't like to see you cry," he whispered. "Come back," he said bluntly, cutting through the long speech he was forming in his head, to get to the point. "Come back."

"I..." Gabriella hiccupped. "I can't. Nothing has changed."

"Don-Don't say that, Gabi. Yes, yes you can. I've changed - everything has changed!"

"Really? Like what?"

"I'll marry you!" He exclaimed, causing Gabriella's eyes to bug. "You want to get married? I'll marry you. You want kids? You want _three, four, five_ kids? I'll give you those kids! I'll give you the whole world, Gabriella, go up there and get you the _stars_ if that's what it will take for you to come back. I don't know who I am without you," he whispered, grasping her hands desperately.

"No. Don't!" Gabriella snatched her hands back. "Don't come here and do that!"

"Do what!"

"You can't turn up and say you'll marry me! It's not fair," she cried, frantically, feeling her head spin; almost to heavy for her petite shoulders to carry. "Yes, I wanted - still _do_ want marriage - but after everything that happened, you_ cannot_ just turn up and say all that, don't you understand!"

"But you said that was what you wanted!" Troy replied, exasperated and confused. He'd come and proposed giving her all she wanted, yet she still wasn't happy and he had absolutely no idea what more he could do.

"Yes, I did but...it doesn't work that way! You have to mean it, and want it! Do you _really_ want it?"

"I want you," he answered tactfully, knowing that he was still not wholly comfortable with the idea of marriage.

Gabriella sighed and shook her head."If you didn't want it three months ago, what's changed so much?"

Troy hesitated and glanced down at his hands which were pressed tightly together. "I was scared. I never said that I didn't ever want it, I was just scared. But now the thought of losing you for good scares me even more."

"You were scared of what? Losing the possibility of being able to go with someone else?"

"No!" Troy was outraged at the mere suggestion that he would want to be with any other woman but the one who sat before him, with pained, confused, brown eyes.

"Then what? Help me out here, Troy, cuz right now, I can't even tell up from down, I'm in such a mess."

He licked his lips, looking back up at her. "I was afraid that...that I couldn't be who you needed me to be."

"What?"

"I was afraid that...I wasn't mature enough, I guess, and I thought how I couldn't be that perfect husband who would do and say all the right things and provide everything you needed. I thought, if we gave it more time, then I would reach that place and I'd be able to give you everything. I just wanted more time."

"Why did you never say any of this?"

He shrugged, "I didn't realise how things would esculate if I held it back. By the time I did realise, it was too late: you'd gone and you wouldn't answer my calls or reply to my messages. I wasn't about to say all that in a text, or even voicemail."

"You're an idiot," Gabriella said blunty, with a touch of bitterness.

Troy was visibly taken aback by her insult, and seemed to retreat like a little child, belittled by a mean playground comment. He knew that getting her to reconsider her decision would not be easy, but he had been hoping for a little more co-operation on her side, rather than him being totally shot down. That hope seemed rather stupid, now, idiotic.

"Well...I..." he took a deep breath, not wanting the searing pain in his heart to show. "I wanted to at least explain everything just to..." he cleared his throat. "To see if there was a chance." He started to pat his jean-clad thigh and then rubbed his hands together. "Umm...I shouldn't have bothered you. I'll...err...let myself out."

He pushed himself out of the couch and began to extend his body, his limbs feeling like led.

"Do you know why you're and idiot?"

Troy didn't turn to face Gabriella, because he didn't want her to see the redness in his eyes caused by unfallen tears, but he answered anyway. "Because I refuse to accept that you obviously want to move on?"

"Well, that you think that makes you an idiot, as well, but no, that wasn't actually what I was going for." Gabriella replied instantly before shaking her head. "You're an idiot for...trying to be somone you're not. Someone I don't want."

Troy turned back to her, reclaiming his seat on the sofa once more while his brows were knitted together in confusion.

"I never wanted some stereotypically perfect husband, who was, you know, a Ken-like cardboard cut out with any personality or flaws," Gabriella insited with a chuckle. "I wanted Troy Bolton. The guy who wakes me up in the mornings with a kiss or by tickling my feet, gently. The guy who runs me baths when I've had a long day or who brings me waffles in bed when I've got my period and feel really crappy. He isn't perfect and sometimes he's nothing but a damn pain in the ass," Troy blushed, glancing down sheepishly. "But..." now it was Gabriella's time to blush, and also giggle nervously, her voice transforming from being insistent and mature, to shy and young. "But, the first time a guy kissed me, it was him, and I was absolutely terrified that I would screw it up, but when he kissed me, he made me feel like...I was floating. And, despite his hundreds of flaws, he's always made me feel that way. I could never love anyone the way I love him. The way I love _you_," she whispered.

Without letting a single word or whisper pass through his lips, Troy took Gabriella's face in his hands, and soundlessly pressed his lips against hers, almost as though trying to reasure himself that she was actually there. It felt like it had been an eternity since their lips had last touched. As his lips captured her own supple ones, he felt as though he was feeding an addiction that had long been satisfied. Somehow, he managed to restrain himself, and not plunge his tongue violently into her mouth and devour her right there on the sofa, but instead treated her gently with love and respect.

Gabriella could hardly believe what was happening; it all seemed to be moving in a blur. One thing she was certain of, was that Troy's lips were moulding together with her own, his tongue hesitantly flicking against hers. It was much like their first kiss; both were shy and gentle, finding their feet and allowing their confidence to grow as their lips carressed the other's.

Gradually, their liplock grew more passionate; Gabriella snaked her arms around Troy's neck, gripping at his short hair with lust, while Troy brushed his eager hand against the exposed skin of her thigh. When it had happened, Gabriella wasn't completely sure, but she found herself nestled into Troy's lap, while Troy undertook a sweet attack on her neck, seeming, once again, to claim his property by leaving several bruises on her soft skin. His biting and suckling became more persistent and both, though resentfully, knew they had to stop before their hormones got the better of them.

"Troy," Gabriella panted, attempting, with empty will, to pry him from her neck.

"Hhmm...?" he moaned in response, taking a bit of flesh gently between his teeth as he had been so accustomed to doing before the break up.

"_Troy..._" this time she pulled away from him, and pressed her lips to his, so he could not return them to her neck. "Troy," she said again, with another peck. "We should talk."

"Sure," he replied, but his actions told her he had other things on his mind, as he ran his hand along her thigh again.

She giggled sweetly, feeling like a hormonal teen. "I'm serious."

"Ugh! Fine, fine, let's talk," he smiled.

"Well -" she began.

"Wait," Troy interrupted, skaking his head. He slid one arm under the crook of her legs, and another under her arms, lifted her and placed her at the opposite end of the sofa. He looked at her bemused expression and shrugged, simply responding: "You sitting on me like that really wasn't going to work if you wanted to talk."

* * *

**Please review. *group hugs* and also *Ben and Jerry's***

**xoxoxo**


	3. You're Still the One

**Title: Heartbreak Melodies**

**Summary: No matter how hard she tried to forget him, no matter the logical reasons behind her leaving, Gabriella couldn't forget the way Troy made her feel. The way she would light up when he smiled. The way she would melt at the sound of his laugh. And the thing that made it the hardest? Troy refused to let her move on without a fight.**

**Rating: T for occasional strong language.**

**Disclaimer: All ideas written below are original and are not examples of plagiarism**

**A/N Another chapter already! You guys' reviews really encourage me to write faster lol. Thank you so much for all of your reviews! I didn't have time to do personal responses but know that they all meant a lot to me. Especially, those of you who said that I'd made you feel better or that this is becoming one of your favourite fics - I'm really flattered XD. Before you read this chapter, you may want to read the last one over again, because I realised that FF didn't save certain edits I made in the second half of the chapter so there were quite a few mistakes that I had to correct. Also, a little mistake in the first chapter that I have to clarify: Troy and Gabriella are both 25 not 24.**

**_LetsJustSing _you asked, if this would be the last chapter, as I had originally said this would only be about three of four chapters. In answer to your question, no, there will be more chapters after this one. Because of the responses I've been getting - and because I'm having so much fun writing this - I've decided to extend it. I'm not sure how many more chapters there will be after this, because I'm not really good at just writing general, everyday-life fics, but there will be at least two...and...possibly a sequel set a few years down the line :D**

**Finally - you can start reading in a moment - turns out The Script have loads of heartbreak/break up songs, but I can't find a single 'we've gotten back together and I'm so happy' song. In fact, hardly any artist seems to have written one of those lol, so this chapter's song may not fit _perfectly _but where it does relate to this chapter, you can imagine it is Troy trying to convince Gabriella of his love and also see it as a throwback to the trouble they first encountered through being in different social circles when they first met.**

**Enjoy! Review! xoxo**

_(When I first saw you, I saw love.  
And the first time you touched me, I felt love.  
And after all this time, you're still the one I love.) _

_(You're still the one)  
You're still the one I run to  
The one that I belong to  
You're the one I want for life  
(You're still the one)  
You're still the one that I love  
The only one I dream of  
You're still the one I kiss good night_

_You're Still the One - Shania Twain_

* * *

A peaceful silence wrapped Troy and Gabriella as they shyly gazed at one another; both hesitant to speak for the fear it would ruin the moment. Troy was the first to break the silence as his lips had twitched eagerly, wanting to get some sort of confirmation for the situation they were in.

"So," the both began simultaneously, giggling at the mishap.

"You go," Gabriella offered.

"No, you."

"Troy..." she countered.

"I insist, speak. Go on, before I change my mind."

Gabriella blushed. Not because she was shy or even embarrassed at his comment, but because his insistance reminded her of the days when they would tease each other and engage in playful banter until the early hours of the morning.

"Fine, I'll speak," she conceded, rolling her eyes and shifting her her legs into a cross-legged position that allowed her to face him fully without straining her neck awkwardly. "Umm..." her eyes flickered between her hands and his expectant, excited sapphire eyes. "What...what now?" She posed.

"What now?" Troy repeated with a smirk and Gabriella nodded. "Well... I'm hopelessly in love with you, you know that much, and you're in love with me also so...I say we be in love together and forget this whole ridiculous idea of a break up. The first step, I think, should be for you to come home," he suggested in a low voice as he shifted closer towards her and took her hands. "Get back to your own bed," he whispered, kissing her forehead. "Your own kitchen." Another kiss, this time to her left cheek. "And bath," he continued, his lips now against her right cheek, which was flushed a sexy shade of pink. "And shower," he whispered. The lewd connotations were more than conveyed by the mischievous twinkle of his eyes, but further enforced when his lips latched onto hers in a brief but passionate kiss, in which his tongue quickly and suggestively traced the line of Gabriella's lips. "If I recall correctly," he continued when he pulled back. "We had some memorable times in each of those places." He wiggled his brows.

"We did," Gabriella confirmed, smirking. "But...I can't come back."

It took a while for Troy to process her words, and while he was doing so, he was certain he spent at least one minute too long wearing the expression of an imbecile.

"Umm...I know that I'm a little obtuse, at times, but I'm certain that I haven't just wildly misread what happend since I got here, so uh..yeah..."

His sentence didn't need completing, because his meaning was more that understandable, so Gabriella then smiled sadly and explained, "When I moved out, I signed a six month lease for this place."

"Six months!" She nodded at Troy's exclamation. "You would do that for what reason?"

"Well I wasn't going to just stay in a hotel and pay day-by-day, what else was I going to do?"

"I don't know," Troy huffed. "Like, stay with Shar, or something."

"She offered," Gabriella shrugged. "And was so insistent that she grew more offended the more I refused her offer, but...after leaving, I just felt I needed to be on my own for a little, and...just kind of figure out where I was...what was next."

Troy nodded solemnly in understanding. "So...you mean it'll be another three months before we're living together again?"

"Well...two and a half, if that makes it any better," Gabriella teased. "Maybe it'll be good, though, we can...ease back into it, rather than going in too fast."

"I suppose it can't hurt, but," he paused briefly, pensive. "I've missed you so much, I was kind of looking forward to speed," he confessed, sheepishly. "But," he continued, with a lighter, more positive tone, "we're together, and that's all that matters." With these words, he smoothly shifted the position of his body and, causing Gabriella zero disruption, managed to reorder their bodies so he was lying flat against the sofa's seat, with Gabriella on top of him; her head on his chest, with his shirt she was wearing, riding up and exposing the curve of her bottom that was covered only in a small pair of shorts.

"That's right," she whispered in reply, stretching, to kiss his Adam's apple...

()()()

It was two weeks since Troy had turned up at Gabriella's flat and begged, without pride or hesitation, for her to take him back and breathe life back into the pathetic misery he and his life had become since she had said goodbye. Although they had said they would take it slowly, they found themselves being ruled by their emotions, and swiftly they found themselves back into a familiar routine.

The first few days were spent merely basking in the joy of once again being united; they would flirt shyly, and tease one another as though testing the waters just as they had when they first got together. But when they were once again fully comfortable in one another and felt secure enough to make themselves, once again vulnerable, they allowed their hormones and their unsatisfied urges to be...well, satisfied. In the bedroom, living room, bathroom and kitchen and whenever the moment took them; whether that be after hours of soft kisses and temptations, or when Troy randomly thought how sexy Gabriella looked while putting some dirty dishes into the sink.

"We have guest, due like any minute," Gabriella reprimanded, as Troy wrapped his arms around her waist and proceeded to softly attack her neck.

He didn't desist in his kisses and suckles even when Gabriella warned him against continuing. Instead, he buried his left hand in her newly-fixed locks, while the hand still around her waist, slipped beneath the hem of her fitted black tank and toyed with her navel piercing. "I don't know why you're attaching fancy labels to them, babe. Guest? They're just our friends."

Gabriella softly whacked him for his comment, all the while bringing her hand down to join his beneath her top. "I've had Chad walk in on us once before and I do not want to repeat that."

Troy chuckled. The incident Gabriella referred to had taken place during their freshman year in college, one weekend when Gabriella had come down from Stanford to visit Troy at Berkeley. After the incident had occurred, it became apparent that the red sock that Troy had tied around the doorknob of their dorm as a symbol of him requiring privacy, had been removed by another student as a joke. Hence, when Chad had raced to the room to grab his wallet, he burst through the door without any hesitation, finding Troy and Gabriella in a very mortifying, _very_ naked, and _very, very _intimate position.

Needless to say, Chad stumbled back out, as fast as someone can with closed eyes. And Gabriella was very, _very_ grateful of the fact that, her schedule over the coming months meant that she was unable to make trips to see Troy down at Berkeley, and that instead, he would be coming to her.

"Eh," Troy shrugged. "I'm pretty sure Chad's over that, baby, it was ages ago."

"Chad may be over it, but I'm definitely not. I'm serious!" She slapped his hand away from where he was subtly undoing the button on her skinny jeans. He pulled his hand away, pouting like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar before dinner. "Besides, Chad's bringing over his new girlfriend, and for the first time I meet her, I don't want to look all..."

"Sexed?" Troy supplied mischievously.

"For want of a better word, yes," Gabriella rolled her eyes, and finally put some distance between her and Troy as she went to find her lip gloss.

Troy, shrugged. "Fine, fine," he conceded, going to retrieve his t-shirt from the floor, where it had been carelessly thrown my Gabriella a little while before. "She isn't his girlfriend, yet," Troy corrected. "But he really likes her, and he wants to make it official, but don't make it obvious today, alright?"

Gabriella nodded and smoothed down her hair.

"She's nice, though, you guys would definitely get on."

"Yeah, Chad's always singing her praises. Said she went to Harvard?"

"Yeah, she's from New York and just moved out here about a year ago, I think, to work for a law firm. I kind of made an idiot out of myself when we met, though," Troy confessed, almost ashamed when he recalled his immature behaviour. "It was just after you left and I was a mess."

"Ohh," Gabriella pouted, walking over to him and hugging him reassuringly. "I'm sure she'll understand," she said kissing him quickly.

A little while later, most of the gang had arrived; with Sharpay turning up first, followed shortly by Jason, Zeke and also Ryan. Neither Gabriella or Troy wanted the hassle of cooking and much preferred spending time with their friends, as they had not done that for many months, and they had decided that, once Chad turned up, they would all contribute and splurge on pizza.

Finally the door knocked, and was opened to reveal Chad who was keen to proudly introduce to his friends, the young woman that had captivated him. "Babe," he said, grinning, "you remember Troy." The girl on his arm smiled enthusiastically and nodded as Troy greeted her.

"Hey, umm...I'd just like to apologise for my behaviour when we first met," Troy said instantly, wanting to make a fresh start

"It's okay, Chad told me that you were going through a rough time, so..." she shrugged her shoulders, communicating that it was okay.

"Yeah, but that's over now," Troy proudly replied. "Because," he wrapped his arm around Gabriella's waist and pulled her closer, "this _amazing_, beautiful, spectacular woman is back in my life and I couldn't be happier."

Gabriella giggled nervously at being put on the spot and also at the fact that Chad's date was also giggling at Troy's gloating.

"Umm...Taylor, this is Gabriella, Troy's girlfriend, and pretty much his whole life, and _also_ one of my best friends, and Gabi," Chad continued in his introduction, "this... is Taylor," he smiled.

Both women exchanged a genuine greeting, both saying that they had heard a lot about the other from Chad and that they looked forward to getting to know each other.

The whole group had a blast hanging out. It seemed like forever since they were all together, and spending time together doing nothing but eating, drinking and laughing at the silliest things, reminded them just how much they had missed it. Also, it was somewhat monumental. When Gabriella had left Troy, she had gone to great extents to ensure they didn't end up in the same environment where awkwardness would ensue. And so, them, not only being all together, but being all together and hosted in the place that - despite Gabriella no longer living there, due to the terms of her lease - they all still considered her and Troy's apartment, was a symbol that everything was back to normal.

Everything was perfect.

()()()

It was almost 2am when Sharpay, Chad and Taylor - the last to leave - bid goodbye. Gabriella being practical, made quick work of disposing the empty pizza boxes, and saving the few remaining slices, putting them in the fridge for the next day. Following, her cue, Troy began clearing the glasses away and other empty packets and boxes that had contained crisps, nuts and other such snacks.

Gabriella shuffled around the kitchen, telling Troy how much she had enjoyed the evening, and retelling particular anecdotes of the night that had made her laugh. All of a sudden, she found the glass she was holding, whisked out of her hand, and placed on the counter, and then her body was wrapped securely in Troy's arms.

He stared at her intently. Pensive. "Stay here tonight," he eventually requested in a low, husky voice.

"Is that a question or a statement?" Gabriella teased with a quirked brow, gripping his t-shirt.

"Statement." They stared at one another, attempting to read the other's unvoiced thoughts.

"Please?" He said softly, nudging her nose with his. "I miss waking up with you beside me in the mornings. It just isn't the same."

"It isn't, is it?" She conceeded. Troy grinned goofily and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards "their" room.

His joy made his movements large and untempered, as he yanked open a draw and proudly displayed it. "Look. You left behind quite a bit, and I sorted through it all. Your pyjamas and the stuff of mine you used to sleep in - they're all in here."

Gabriella went to prepare for bed, having a quick shower and making sure all of her make up was off. Just as she was about to shut the water off, she got a visitor, causing her to groan and reaffirm her resentful feelings towards nature. She pulled back the shower curtain to call Troy and being the dilligent, attentive boyfriend that he was, he appeared within seconds.

"Yeah?" Troy queried when he saw his girlfriend, head poking out from the shower curtain that concealed her nude body. "Ahh...you want company, don't you?" He smiled, reaching for the hem of his shirt. "Say no more, beautiful," he said cockily, already having stripped himself of his t-shirt and had begun fiddling with the button on his jeans.

"Slow down, buddy," Gabriella chuckled, waving her hand and shaking her head to halt his actions. "That isn't why I called." Troy looked dubious. "Really," she deadpanned. "Listen," having not made this request for months, she felt a little awkward, but knew she had to nonetheless. "I need you to, umm...go to the store for me," she said timidly, not really wanting to expand.

"The store?"

She sighed. "Yes, Troy the store. I need," she took a deep breath and rolled her eyes at her own awkwardness. "...I need-"

"You _need_ to look under the sink when you get out of the shower," Troy interrupted with a sly smirk at her apparent hesitation.

"Huh?"

"I wasn't just saying it for effect, Ella," Troy said with a serious tone and expression as he lent back against the door frame. "Other than me putting most of your sleeping clothes together, I haven't touched anything of yours. I left absolutely everything else where you left it...waiting for you to come back."

Then he shrugged, and before he slipped back out of the room, said he would be in bed waiting for her. When Gabriella climbed out of the shower, and dried herself off, she went over to the bathroom sink and noticed, for the first time, that her red toothbrush was just where she had left it three months before, in the holder next to Troy's. Then she bent down to further investigate his statement. Sure enough, right beside the replacement bar soap and shower gel, was a half-empty box of tampons...just were she had left them.

()()()

"Gabi," Troy whispered into Gabriella's ear the next morning, as she breathed gently, peacefully, asleep on his chest. "Gabi!" He repeated, this time hissing. Still, his girlfriend did not stir, but to tighten her hold on his body. Then he began to shake her while simultaneously tapping her with his left hand and calling her name: "Gabi...Gabi!"

"Huh, what?" She grumbled, when she finally woke, obviously not appreciative of the fact that her sleep had been broken.

Seeing the tiredness in her pink eyes and hearing it in her voice, Troy suddenly felt guilty and decided to feign ignorance. "Oh," he said lamely, with raised eyebrows, "you're awake."

"No kidding," Gabriella grumbled as she attempted to focus her eyes so her boyfriend's image would no longer blur. "What is it, Troy?" She asked tersely.

He sighed and gave up the pretence. "I think we should talk."

"Uhh, that's great but could it not wait?"

Troy was adamant in the way he shook his head and pressed his lips together in a firm line. "You see, I screwed things up between us before because I wasn't communicating and I don't want that to happen again."

"Okay, what's up?"

Troy shuffled down the bed, until he and Gabriella were now face to face. With the hand that wasn't wrapped around her waist, he stroked her hair, while he closed the two inches that separated them, and kissed her softly. "When we sorted everything out last week," he begun before pausing hesitantly. Gabriella nudged their noses together and gave him a peck on the lips as an indication that he should continue. "I was serious when I said we'd get married," he stated in a hushed voice, as though guarding their secrets from the walls. Gabriella was now fully alert and paying pedantic attention to each one of Troy's words with wide eyes. "It wasn't just something I said to win you over, you know that, don't you? Let's get married and afterwards - not right away, but soon, I guess - we can maybe start trying for a baby. Would that make you happy?"

"Would that make _you_ happy?" Gabriella repeated swiftly, posing his own question back to him, while furrowing her brows. "I know you, Troy, like the back of my hand. If this was something you wanted - really wanted - that isn't how you'd ask me. You'd do some crazy, grand proposal," she chuckled, "not wake me up early in the morning and ask me outright like that." Troy was silent, making no attempt to deny her statement. "So? Is this really what you want?"

Despite her reassurances the previous week, Troy still had to overcome his own insecurities before becoming completely comfortable with the idea of marriage and he knew this in his heart, but still when asked he answered, with the slightest quake in his voice, "Yeah."

"Troy..."

"What I want is to make you happy," he said, rephrasing his response.

"Even if it means forsaking your own?" Gabriella questioned, touched but a little bemused.

"It would never be a case of me forsaking my own happiness," Troy replied firmly, seeming a little offended at the insinuation that she still did not fully comprehend the depth of his feelings for her. "_You're_ the only thing I need to be happy. All the other stuff - as long as your with me - can be worked around," he said, with a moving his shoulders to shrug but finding it hard considering how tightly bound he was to Gabriella.

"You would honestly marry me - _just_ to make me happy?"

"What is love about if not compromise?" He simply questioned.

Silence fell between them as Gabriella gazed an him pensively, watching the shadows cast by the early morning sun fall over his face, dancing across his nose and soft lips. She could have everything she had ever wanted with one simple, mono-syllabic word, and yet...she couldn't. Not really. She was a perfectionist; always had been and always would be, and she knew that uttering that crucial word would be kissing goodbye her hopes of perfection.

"You're an amazing man, Troy Bolton," she whispered, finally. "But I don't want to marry you."

In that moment, Troy gave up completely his life-long efforts to understand the female mind. "B-b..." he stuttered wildly in his effort to voice his confusions.

Gabriella chuckled and rolled her eyes, placing her slender index finger over his lips and silencing him. He looked at her, waiting for her words as though she held the answer to the meaning of life. "What is love about if not compromise?" She repeated cheekily. Troy was stumped: he could hardly argue against his own argument, now, could he? "That you love me enough to offer me everything I want, even when it isn't something you completely desire, is enough for me. I don't need you to marry me to prove how much you love me, because that alone already does." Troy smiled a little, though still looking a bit perplexed. "When you're ready," Gabriella said matter-of-factly with a satisfied smirk, "I have faith that you'll ask me again, and when you do...I'll say yes," she smiled.

"And until then?" Troy finally spoke, Gabriella having removed her finger from his lips.

"Until then, we stay in love...and we sleep," she said mischievously, with a casual tone as though the matter required no more said. With that, she pressed a chaste kiss against Troy's lips, snuggled further into his body and buried her head into the crook of his neck, and allowed her eyes to drift closed. "I love you."

Troy held Gabriella tightly in his arms as her soft breaths tickled his neck and spread down to his chest as he studied her serene face. If he was honest, he wasn't sure what had just happened but he knew how he felt. He felt...safe. He felt like everything was going to be okay because she understood him, and him, her. Their relationship had never followed conventions so he supposed he shouldn't be surprised that she would always keep him on his toes, and yet he couldn't help but chuckle at exchange that had just taken place between them. He'd had his first ever marriage proposal turned down and it was a bizarre feeling, but it didn't bother him, really. Because she was right - as usual - he wouldn't let it go. He would work on himself, and do what he had to. And he had every intention of asking again; maybe not in two weeks, or even two months, but he already felt closer to that day than he had ever done previously. Because, whether he was perfect or not, she loved him and he loved her with his entire being.

"I love you too," he whispered, pressing his lips against her warm forehead. Then, he adjusted his pillow, smiled to himself, closed her eyes, and joined her in her sleep.

* * *

**Not completely satisfied with the ending, but still: hope you enjoyed! Review! xoxo  
When I was checking to see how this song would work with this chapter (it's one of my fave song, btw) I came across the sweetest ZV video on Youtube... [youtube] .com/watch?v=gq5JqZ0Tvp4**


	4. AN: Wildcatsgivebac  please read!

**AN: Hey! Sincere aplogies for teasing you guys with a chapter, only for you to realise it's an author's note (I know _I_ hate when that happens) but, this is really important so please read.**

**You may have already read this somewhere else, but Diana (aka Unproper Grammer) has organised an auction to raise funds for the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. I'll post the link, which will explain it in a much clearer way that I can, but basically this is something we can all get involved in. You can either offer your services (creating a fanfic or art etc.) or you can bid on the services offered (told you I probably wouldn't explain it well). I've put my name down so you can bid for my services if you wish, or even if you don't want to bid on me, there are going to be many other's for you to choose from. Honestly, I don't mind who you bid on - just bid! It's a great cause, and a great idea that Diana has come up with so go and check it out! at community (dot) livejournal (dot) com / wildcatsgivebac. CHECK IT OUT!**

**P.S I will most definitely (try to *blush*) have an update of Hearthbreak Melodies ready by the end of the week. I have the chapter written, it's just in need of some (a lot of) editing, but hopefully I'll be inspired seeing as...guess what...I'm seeing The Script live in concert of Friday! Woop! Woop!**

***wave***


	5. I'm Yours

**Title: Heartbreak Melodies**

**Summary: No matter how hard she tried to forget him, no matter the logical reasons behind her leaving, Gabriella couldn't forget the way Troy made her feel. The way she would light up when he smiled. The way she would melt at the sound of his laugh. And the thing that made it the hardest? Troy refused to let her move on without a fight.**

**Rating: T for occasional strong **language** and sexual references.**

**Disclaimer: All ideas written below are original and are not examples of plagiarism**

**A/N** **I've had this chapter in a state of almost-completion for ages, but just didn't have the time to make edits, so thanks to Mya for helping me finally do that *hug*! I really like this chapter and hopefully you guys do too :D. Will have the next one up soon (hopefully *blush*) Also, got a few PMs asking if I planned to continue Power of Three; I have a chapter ready that's almost complete as well, it's just finding the time to finish it off but I haven't stopped writing that story ;) Oh, to those of you wondering: The Script f*!%ing rock in concert and Mark f*!ing swears like no ones f#!ing business looool**

_ You touch these tired eyes of mine_  
_And map my face out line by line_  
_And somehow growing old feels fine_  
_I listen close for I'm not smart_  
_You wrap your thoughts in words of art_  
_And they're hanging on the walls of my heart _

**_I'm Yours - The Script_**

As early as it was that Tuesday morning - ridiculously early, as far as Gabriella was concerned - Gabriella had defiantly refused to turn up to work giving the impression that she had slept for less than four hours that night. If made, the assumption would be far from incorrect; it was true that Troy had kept her up into the early hours of the morning. The two had been engaging in activities that she really thought it inappropriate for anyone but the two of them to know, and for that reason, she wanted to guard against any accusations being made in regard to her tiredness, and so focused solely on her reflection, being meticulous her in application of the required make-up (including mascara and eyeliner to open her eyes and blusher to lift her colour).

So focused had she been, that she had not noticed the way Troy leaned against the door frame, his heart fluttering at the adorable pout she was wearing as she gave herself a once-over. Gabriella Montez had a myriad of expressions that Troy had seen over the years. There was her shy, reserved smile where her eyes would flit about with doubt while the spark in her eyes betrayed her inner zeal and intelligence and all round amazingness - this, Troy had received on many occasions when he and Gabriella had first met - there was also the expression when anger or even strong annoyance consumed her. This was most frequent when the two found themselves in the midst of an argument. The fire in her eyes at these times, Troy found overwhelmingly sexy; which was why the majority of their spats ended with Troy suddenly lunging at her and stripping her of all clothing, whenever they were in a space even remotely appropriate. Of all of her many expressions, Troy's favourite remained the pout of concentration, as he had termed it, where her perfectly arched brows would knit into one while her plump, kissable lips, jutted outward while she focused admirably at which task had consumed her. Yes, that would definitely, always be his favourite.

It was when Troy sighed contently that Gabriella's attention was drawn towards him for the first time. Their eyes met in the mirror, and even the mere reflection of the other's gaze, not even half the power of the real thing, sent a shock through both Troy and Gabriella's bodies with the loving intensity they saw in the other. Gabriella quirked her eyebrows, looking quizzically at Troy, in regards to the lazy grin spread across his face, his and his protruding cheekbones.

"You see," he began softly, still smiling gently at the beauty across the room, whom was faced away from him, still watching only his reflection. "Each morning, I wake up wondering what I possibly did in my past life to have gotten such a beautiful angel as you as my girlfriend, in this one. When I watch you, it makes me realise that I haven't been dreaming; you are actually mine." He tried to refrain from grinning goofily and thus looking like his nerdy fourteen year old self, but, as hard as he tried, his joy just could not be contained. His smile split his face in two.

It was not the first time Troy had spoken along these lines, but, nevertheless, Gabriella found herself overwhelmed by emotion. Had she not been due into work in a little over an hour, she was sure she would have lunged into his arms, smothering him in adoring kisses; instead, she settled for a deep blush across her appled cheeks as she spoke teasingly. "Charmer."

Pushing himself from the door frame, having a striking resemblance, Gabriella thought, to Danny Zuko as he did so, Troy shrugged, covering the bathroom floor in three large strides until he was behind her; his arms wrapped around her waist and his body flush against her. Their eyes again locked in the mirror, and Troy placed his lips torturingly close to Gabriella's left ear lobe. With each word, his lips brushed against the shell of her ear, causing her to shiver lightly. "Eh, that may be," he confessed easily. "But, I only speak the truth when I'm talking to or about you," he explained in a low, husky murmur, "So you can rest assured that you, Gabriella Montez, are definitely, without a doubt, out of this world."

Gosh, the way he was speaking to her, the way he was looking at her and touching her...God it would just be so easy to...Gabriella shook her head, and twisted her lips to the corner. "I have to go to work, Wildcat," she sighed not having to expand.

"Are you insinuating that my presence distracts you, Miss Montez?" Troy responded with a cocky grin as he thought of her getting all hot and worked up without the possibility of a release. This was a situation that he could more than identify with, as it was one that he himself had found himself in on countless occasions when they had first met, almost a year before Gabriella became aware of, and was comfortable and trusting enough, to fully take advantage of the sexual arousal that would consume Troy even at the most innocent of gestures on her part.

"You know exactly what you do to me," Gabriella reprimanded. "Stop teasing, it's not fair!"

"Not fair but most definitely fun."

"Fine, tease if you want, but maybe I'll just go home tonight after work instead of coming around," she suggested with a deviant smile as Troy squinted in the attempt to judge her seriousness. He decided to quit while he was ahead, just to be safe.

"Come on, baby," he flattered, as he turned her around and planted a loud kiss square on her lips. "You know I love you."

"That's what I thought," Gabriella smirked triumphantly, loosely throwing her arms across his broad, naked shoulders.

Troy was careful not to hug Gabriella too tightly, not wanting to crease her clothes, but at the same time, feeling her body in such close proximity to his, made his every limb tingle with excitement and expectations, and while they engaged in a short, loving exchange, Troy silently reprimanded the male reflexes that were causing him to stiffen within his boxers, telling them to calm down because the only chance of him getting a release was if it was a manual one - and that wasn't half as fun.

"Do you need a ride to work?" He offered, still holding Gabriella in his arms by the bathroom sink.

Stroking the back of his neck, Gabriella shook her head in reply; "It's fine. I need to get my car washed anyway so I may as well drive today and do it after work." Just before Troy had time to offer once again, Gabriella cut him off, seeing his lips twitch and knowing from experience what was going to be said. "Troy, seriously, I'm fine. Besides," she exclaimed with excitement. "It's your day off. You should just relax and enjoy it; anything planned?" She asked enticingly, feeling as though she was living vicariously through Troy. While Troy was relaxing on his day off, she would be on her feet for the majority of the next five hours, teaching a class of rowdy thirteen year olds. For that reason she decided to mentally imagine Troy's free hours as her own.

"Well," Troy exhaled, glancing up to the bathroom ceiling, "after you leave, I'm gonna...yep, it was a hard choice to make, but I'm gonna go back to sleep," he said in mock seriousness. "I reckon I'll crash until...I don't know...about one thirty, two, and then I'll have a shower and go meet Chad, you know, go have some beers or whatever." He wiggled his brows teasingly at Gabriella's pained gaze. "Hard going isn't it?"

Gabriella didn't respond but for a hard smack to Troy's chest, to which Troy responded with an outraged cry and a glare.

Finishing up in the bathroom, Gabriella then proceeded to move around 'their' apartment, gathering the last of her things - purse, keys, lip gloss - and double checking the contents of her bag to ensure she had everything for her day. The tiredness threatened to overwhelm her to such an extent that she was certain if she had realised at some point during the day that she had forgotten notes or books of any importance, she would simply collapse in her classroom in a heap of irrational tears.

Once she had checked her bag three times over, she went and sat on the arm of the sofa near where Troy was standing, and wrapped her arms around his waist, lacing her fingers together behind his back. "My dad's planning something for my Mom's birthday," she began, smiling as Troy held her around her waist also and lightly kissed her forehead. "He wants to do like a bigger thing than he did last year and have most of the family and her friends. I've been looking into flights and everything, so I can get an idea of...well...you know." She glanced up Troy, an uncertainty in her eyes that threw her boyfriend, causing him to furrow his brows. "You're coming, right?" She attempted to ask casually.

"Ooh," Troy chuckled, "are you slyly asking me, Gabriella?"

Gabriella giggled with embarrassment and blushed a little while she rolled her eyes. "Yes," she conceded, "I am asking. Are you coming?"

"Gabi," Troy sighed, shuffling his feet a little closer to hold her tighter.

"What?" Gabriella pouted, sensing his resistance - and, being honest, having predicted it. "You've always come before." She softly drew her finger down his bare chest, directly between his pecs, which caused him to shiver. She didn't want to - preferably - but desperate times call for desperate - and somewhat cheap - persuasion tactics. For good measure, she pressed her plump lips against his left pectoral and smiled inwardly as she felt it tense suddenly at her touch.

"Things were different. I mean, we...you know, that last few months."

Exhaling loudly, Gabriella rolled her eyes while staring at Troy incredulously. "Yes, Troy, we broke up and got back together - it's known to happen between couples, Troy it isn't a big deal. Why does that effect you coming?"

"Because your Dad's probably gone back to hating me now that I hurt you," Troy said bluntly.

Gabriella couldn't help but laugh heartily at Troy's reasoning, and as she giggled (much to Troy's confusion) she stretched up slightly and pressed her lips lovingly against his. "Baby, my Dad doesn't hate you. He never did. Besides, you can't solely blame yourself for us breaking up before."

"Well, actually you can," he corrected with sarcasm. "'Because, you see, if it hadn't been for my weird insecurities and then me keeping them from you, you wouldn't have gotten hurt and if you hadn't have gotten hurt, you wouldn't have left. Sure, there are many ways your dad could look at it, but pretty much all of them come down to me being a dick who doesn't deserve you," he huffed. "Oh, and by the way, your Dad did hate me."

Gabriella waved her hand dismissively in reference to the beginning of his statement. "I'm not going to keep telling you that you're wrong about that, so if you want to wallow in self-pity then go ahead; just don't do it around me because it's real depressing," she said bluntly. "But..." she sighed, "maybe... maybe you're right and maybe my Dad _did_ hate you for a brief period -"

"Two years," Troy spluttered in a fake cough.

"But, in his defence, you were my first boyfriend - I hadn't even had one of those stupid dates you go on when you're thirteen and then you came along and..." Gabriella smiled wistfully with a sigh, "...and I pretty much fell for you right away. When I met you, it was the first time he had to acknowledge the fact that I was growing up...that eventually, I'd be going to parties where there was alcohol and I'd be dancing with you," she said softly with a smirk. "And kissing you," she pressed her lips against his naked chest. "And, most likely, towards the end of high school, kissing and groping you in a manner inappropriate for all public places other than a high school party..."

"And then finding a room with me at said parties and doing unspeakable things." A hum rumbled in Troy's throat as he grew ever excited at the vivid memories. He gulped, his throat seeming to tighten in synchronicity with his groin. He tried to edge ever closer to Gabriella, wanting to tease her by pushing his hardness against her knee, but she knew his games too well; bringing her arms from around his waist and sitting her hands on his waist to keep him at a safe distance. "Maybe I can* see why he hated me, after all," he conceded with a chuckle.

"So you'll cut him some slack and come home with me," Gabriella asked sweetly with a cocked head and batting lashes.

"Hey, you did that on purpose! You know I can't say no to you if you ask when I'm horny and my brains all frazzled."

"Is that a yes?"

"I'm mad at you and I don't want to talk to you any longer," Troy said in mock annoyance as he shifted from her grasp and walked away, head high in the air. "Just let me know when you want to book because I'm not having your Dad say how you even had to pay for the tickets to see your own mother. Is there anything else, Montez?" He continued.

"I'm glad you're coming," Gabriella smiled as she headed towards the door with her bag over her shoulder and her folders tucked under her arm. "Because I already spoke to your Mom and she says she'd love to be there," Gabriella said, trying to clamp her lips tightly together so as to not display the huge grin that was trying to break through.

()()()

Later that afternoon, having gone back to bed when Gabriella had left and not waking up until a decent hour, Troy reclined partially with his legs outstretched beneath the outdoor table he and Chad sat at. They spoke about nothing and everything, laughed and almost cried with hysterics, munching heartily on burgers and sipping at beers as the afternoon sun streamed down on them.

"So..." Chad encouraged as he swiped the light brown napkin across his mouth. "You and Gabi are really back on track, huh?" Chad smiled, happy for his best friend to be back and resembling the friend of his youth. When Gabriella left, it had really been as though part of Troy had left, also; had withered, dying at the sound of that door clicking shut. He had barely spoken, had been forced to eat and was contented to live in squalor until his friends had given him a kick up the backside and demand he pull himself together and reclaim at least a semblance of self respect and dignity. As much as it wasn't easy, eventually he made an effort to re-emerge himself into something that shared a faint resemblance to a human existence. Even so, even with him utmost efforts, he just had not been the same; his fire and passion had died - his spirit just wasn't in it. Now, however, Chad almost felt as though he had experienced time travel as he sat lunching with his old friend. He had missed him.

Troy couldn't help but sigh. "We are," he grinned, unashamed at the way his happiness portrayed itself through a goofy smile. "And...you can go back to giving me shit for 'being a woman' if you want but...I don't care." He shook his head. "It's...it's like everything perfect now you know, because, like, we're both on the same wave-length. And I mean _exactly_ the same; we're not hiding anything now and it makes it so much better that we're just...completely connected." He nodded solemnly with his mouth forming an upside down smile as he affirmed his statement in his head.

"Well, good on you, dude," Chad said exuberantly with a sincere smile. "I'm happy that you two are good again." He tongue flicked over his lips before he pursing them together in hesitation. "What you and Gabs had back in high school...it always scared me, right?" Troy nodded. Unlike others Troy knew in high school and the early years of college, Chad had never attempted to discourage his and Gabriella's relationship. Although at times he did worry that the relationship's intensity caused Troy to rearrange basketball on his list of priorities, he had never suggested that Troy end it with Gabriella as he knew better than anyone just how much she had meant to him. "But, now...I think I get it. It still wouldn't have been for me; I'm glad I've really had a chance to figure out who I am before committing to a relationship like that but I get how..." he glanced up at Troy and glared at the way his friend was looking at him, with his brows raised expectantly and his grin amused.

"Hey, don't stop, dude, I really want to hear this."

"What...what I mean is that, I really care about Taylor," he admitted. "I know it hasn't been that long, but whenever I'm around her, or if I just hear her voice or think of her..." he smiled dreamily. "I get this crazy feeling, dude. I feel like she's...she's my girl. My one." His admission...hearing his own words aloud, vibrating through the air, somewhat stunned Chad himself. He felt with those words, he made a final, definite transition into manhood.

Troy also found himself slightly aghast at Chad's words. Chad...Chad wasn't one for thinking he was in love while in relationships in high school or even college. He had been adamant in his belief that real love couldn't be found until both parties truly knew themselves and had their fingers firmly grasped around life. While he was not considered, by even his harshest critic, anything approaching a slut, but he had never had a serious girlfriend, and had spent his college life dating, with only a few exclusive girlfriends during that four year period; those relationships coming to an end when the females grew tired of his refusal to say those three special words.

But now here he was, with endless opportunities before him, finally in love and Troy couldn't help but wonder where the years had passed. He was contemplating the intricacies of marriage and Chad was really, truly, falling in love. At times, Troy felt only mere days separated their twenty-five year old selves and them as two little kids; Troy; stringy hair, flopping over his eyes, short, skinny and gap-toothed, and Chad with crazy curls bouncing around his face with big sparkling eyes. At times like this, he felt it was a gap of a million years. Sometimes he yearned for simpler times when his main concern was growing that extra two inches so the bigger guys at school wouldn't see him as prime bait, but at other times - times like this - he revelled in it, loved life, wish he'd lived more of it and couldn't wait for what was to come.

()()()

Almost three weeks after the subject had first been broached; Troy and Gabriella shuffled into aisle seats fourteen and fifteen of row J and prepared for their flight to Albuquerque for Gabriella's mother - Ana Montez's - fiftieth birthday. While the young flight attendant was giving the standard script on flight safety - seeming as bored at saying it as the passengers accustomed to flying, did hearing it - Troy pulled Gabriella further into his side.

"D'you reckon anyone actually remembers to stay calm when they're retrieving their air masks while they plummet to their death as the plane crashes towards an ocean?" he pondered mischievously with a smirk.

"Troy!" Gabriella admonished, craning her neck to get a glimpse at the attendant, hoping she hadn't heard Troy's sarcastic remark.

"You know it's true," he insisted. "Everyone'd be scared shitless and losing their fucking minds to remember any of this." He waved his hand carelessly, as though erasing each of the attendant's words as they floated through the air.

Gabriella rolled her eyes before hesitatingly reclaiming her spot within Troy's arms, perfectly moulding into the side of his body. Neither spoke for a little while, drifting into their own worlds while those around them settled into their seats, shuffling about, arguing over trivial matters and sorting through their hand luggage, retrieving the items that would aid them through the four hour flight.

"What would you do if you were about to die?" Gabriella questioned suddenly.

She wasn't facing Troy; her head was still lying on his chest facing the seats in front of them. Troy pulled back, stunned, wanting to see her face as he wondered why on earth that question had just left her lips. "What?" He asked incredulously. "Way to kill the mood, Ella."

"Troy, answer the question," she implored. Troy had sparked her curiosity with his previous comment, and now she couldn't let it go."If the engine suddenly failed, what would you do?"

"They have back-up engines, babe. One failed engine wouldn't cause the plane to crash," he replied in a smart ass tone that Gabriella couldn't stand. "You know," he said after a short pause, "I'm a little worried that we're taking this trip that proves just how great we're doing and you're asking me about death."

"Stop being an idiot. Say the engine _and_ all the back-up engines failed, and then...then the wings snapped off and the cockpit caught fire and you didn't have a chance in hell of surviving. What would you do?"

The silence between them was thick. Troy suppressed the urge to make another wise crack when he saw the firm line of Gabriella's mouth and her imploring eyes flittering between each of his in anticipation. He sighed and licked his lips. "I'd tell you that I love you," he finally responded in a low, husky voice.

The intensity in his eyes made Gabriella's mouth run dry, her heart jump against her rib cage while her lips trembled; it seemed her nerve ending were going crazy and she was trembling all over.

Troy reached out and stroked the side of her face before gently pushing a few stray locks of hair behind her ears. "I'd tell you that I love you," he reaffirmed, "and I'd tell you that I'd wait for you."

Fearing she would get too emotional and not about to burst into somewhat irrational tears amongst a cabin full of strangers, Gabriella quickly blinked away her rapidly forming tears and bit down on her bottom lip. Troy sensed the struggle she was having with her emotions, and, in a comforting gesture, pressed a soft kiss against her forehead, pulled back and winked at her. She slowly smiled and nodded in thanks before reclaiming her position; her arm laying in his lap and her head snuggled into the warmth of his chest. Their fingers tangled together and in many ways, they felt like teenagers again.

They were wrapped up in one another and consumed wholly by the other's presence and falling ever deeper in love. Sometimes the intensity of their emotions caused an unsettling fear to niggle within them: maybe they were too young? Too inexperienced? But nevertheless, they allowed themselves to keep falling. Neither were completely sure of where they were going to end up in life, or the path they were going to take to get to the vague place they saw often in their dreams that was representative of the future, but one thing they were both sure of was that they were happy. From there, they were content to let the rest unfold.

xxxx

Due to some confusion when they had first arrived at the airport in California, Troy and Gabriella landed in Albuquerque nearly three hours earlier than they had planned. This made for the perfect opportunity to surprise Gabriella's parents, and so they headed to Gabriella's childhood home without alerting her parents to the fact that they had arrived on Albuquerque.

Neither Troy nor Gabriella had the time to visit half as much as they would have liked, and so each time they scored a chance to return to the place of their earlier years - and the town where their love had first blossomed - they cherished it: driving from the airport to Gabriella's home, with wide, excited eyes as they pointed out places that were significant to their youth, as a tourist would gesture towards landmarks they had seen on tv and in brochures and had dreamt about one day visiting. A short thirty minute drive saw their cab pull up to the Montez family home and trying to be as quiet as possible under Gabriella's orders, Troy unloaded their small suitcase and hand luggage from the car, while inhaling deeply so as to keep himself from telling Gabriella that the wild jingling of her door keys was far more likely to be heard by her parents than the low shuffle of bags that she was reprimanding him for.

Troy tipped the cab driver and nodded in farewell, and followed Gabriella up the driveway. When Gabriella inserted her key into the lock which proceeded to click open, the two then entered into the warmth of the home; scents of dinner still swirling through the air. The sound previously emitting from the television was cut off and hushed voices ensued. All the while, Gabriella bit her lip firmly to stop herself erupting in giggles.

Still, the voices continued, sounding panicked and then finally the voice of Carlos Montez filled the hallway, sounding firm and brave. "Who's there!" He demanded. Gabriella giggled into Troy's chest. "Whoever's out there: I have a licensed firearm in here and I'm not afraid to use it!"

At that, Gabriella erupted into melodious giggles. "Daddy, you wouldn't even know how to load a gun," she spluttered, and almost immediately they heard the sound of clambering footsteps, before both Carlos and Ana Montez appeared.

"Gabi!" Her mother squealed, running towards her only daughter and enveloping her into a hug. After squeezing Gabriella half to death Ana relinquished her hold on her, pulling back to glare at her daughter. "¿Crees que es divertido, bueno, para asustarme de esa manera? No se ríe si me había dado un ataque al corazón!"

"Soy mamá lo siento, nunca la intención de asustarlo - fue una sorpresa," she replied sheepishly. After receiving a light smack from her mum, Gabriella was released completely for her mother to turn her affection towards Troy had had been standing nervously with his hands shoved into his pockets.

"Troy!" She called out as she engulfed him in her much smaller frame. "It's been too long," she chastised as she pulled back, holding his smiling face between her palms. "Look at you - you're looking a little thin in the face," she scolded upon inspection, "but I'm glad the two have you have put that nonsense behind you." Troy nodded eagerly.

While Troy and Gabriella's mother quickly caught up, Gabriella had greeted her dad, their exchange going in pretty much the same way in which Troy and ..'s had; with Carlos repeatedly asking Gabriella if she was both happy and healthy. Then it was Troy's turn to greet her father. The two men stood across from one another and Gabriella observed the way Troy squared his shoulders while all the while his fingers where twitching ever so slightly.

And suddenly, Troy was seventeen years old again: afraid of screwing up, afraid of embarrassing himself and afraid of being judged. He cleared his throat when Carlos extended his hand, and offered an almost resentful greeting by curtly speaking his name.

"Troy."

He jerked his hand forward to meet that of the older man's and shook his hand as firmly as his nerves would allow. "Mr Montez."

The two observing women darted their eyes between the men and then back at each other and shared a knowing look: it was going to be a long few days.

* * *

**A/N Hope that was an enjoyable read! Please review! Nikki xoxo**

You touch these tired eyes of mine  
And map my face out line by line  
And somehow growing old feels fine  
I listen close for I'm not smart  
You wrap your thoughts in works of art  
And they're hanging on the walls of my heart


End file.
